Forgive Me, Father

Forgive Me, Father review

Forgive Me, Father is a forbidden-temptation drama set around a church, and it is more careful with language than most of its neighbours. A new priest, a parishioner who keeps testing him and a script that treats every pious phrase as a double meaning make for a short, tense start. It is not for every taste, but it is cleverly written.

The story so far

The new priest has just finished a service, and a parishioner named Mika lingers to praise his sermon, especially the section about resisting temptation. A moment later she asks for confession and confesses that her mind keeps drifting to him in ways it should not. He tells her to stop, but the way he says it leaves the door open. Episode 2 picks up the same conversation. Mika wonders aloud at what point temptation stops being a thought and becomes a sin; the priest says she should not speak like that, yet he answers a little too fast whenever she pushes. The episode ends on his offer of one last chance for her to say no, with the answer left hanging. The setting stays inside the church throughout the free part, which keeps the focus on the two of them.

What works

The writing is the draw. The confession booth is a smart place for this story, because a conversation that is supposed to be about guilt becomes a game of ambiguity, and the script plays it with real care. Mika is calm and direct, while the priest is rigid and formal, and the gap between their manners gives each exchange a charge. Small details help: the way he clings to polite phrases, the long pause when she suggests describing her imagination, and the way a single word of refusal gets undermined by tone. For a series this short, it commits to a quiet, intense mood and mostly avoids cheap shortcuts. The sound design helps too: a hushed, echoing room makes every whispered reply feel louder than it should, and the score stays out of the way of the dialogue.

What doesn't

The tone is heavy and stays that way. Religious taboo will put some viewers off, and nothing in the first two episodes lightens the mood. The pace is also slow for the length: when the free part ends, the priest has only wavered, and nothing has happened that you could not predict from the title. Mika is more of an idea than a character, as we learn little about her life outside the church. The setting repeats the same two rooms, and the visual variety is limited.

The free part

You can watch the first episode without registering and the second once you register for free, which gives you about five minutes in total, enough for a fair first impression. Plenty there to assess the dialogue, the contrast between the leads and the atmosphere, and it shows the series' one big trick clearly. What it cannot tell you is whether the plot moves on, since the free part stops while the priest is still at the temptation stage.

Worth the tokens?

Unlocking the final stretch means thirty-six tokens, one dozen per episode. If you liked the tension, that is a fair price to find out whether he gives in, and the series so far suggests that the script will keep to its careful style. We cannot say what the later episodes do, only that the free part builds toward a decision. If the script holds this level, the cost is reasonable, though anyone whose patience wore thin during the free part should skip it.

Who it's for

A good match for viewers who like literate, restrained taboo drama and forgive a slow burn, as long as religious themes do not bother them. If you want humor, speed or a lighter mood, pick something else. Expect a serious tone from start to finish, with very little comic relief along the way.